Lock device for printers&#39; chases



March 27, 1951 G. F. MORRISON ETAL 2,546,197

LOCK DEVICE FOR PRINTERS CHASES Filed June 11, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR.

GEORGE E MoRR/safl Y HERMAN C. FRENTZEL HMMMLLJ ATTORNEY March 27, 1951G. F. MORRISON ETAL LOCK DEVICE FOR PRINTERS CHASES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed June 11, 1948 INVENTOR.

. 6502a: E-MonR/sorv BY HERMAN C. FRENTZEL gvfim w, 70 7o ATTORNEYPatented Mar. 27, 1951 I Wisconsin- This invention relate's toimprevements 'in iock "up devices 'for printers chases.

Devices-of this type are use'd for locking up type or printer's form 'intheehase without 'the this type of device,:itis e'entialto i apidly-iadjust the form holding bateplace and -ho'ld them under -ten'si'on,and while under tension to eecurely lock them? Heretofore it has beenthe practice to adjust the bars by --a rack and pinion o'r worm meansandby use of either aquoin and quoin key, pawl and rachet,or separateratehet forthepinion to lock 'the b'ars in theadju'sted position. Thesemethods of kicking the bars arenot satisfactory.

'The quoins and quoin =keys 'ge't "misplaced, re-

quire too much space and too-"xnuch operating time. "The pawl '-type"of1ock-'iioes no-tfpe'i mit a sufliciently fine degree of adjustmenttoalways maintain the bars 'under' tension.

It is an-object of 'this inverition therfoi e'to provide am improvedlock *up "aevic'e 'ro'r printers' chases, the bars of which "may bereadily "airi-v justed to "an infinite vaii'ty of; positione, lildundertension 'inthedsiid position and locked while under such tension;

Another object of this in VGI itiOniS tfpfdvlfie an improvedlockfiip 'devicefdr tishgiss which: is simply operateii bjv asing'le' tool and-iseasy and com arative-y inexpensive to manufacture. f

' These objects are 'attaiiied 'by pfo'vidin'g longitudinal and'trahslvrseh which 'fit with-in the chase and areadjusted -1elatii?e-ly* t'-each other to clamp a pfinfirs "fO'rI'n, S'e't 't'ylw,(51 c'u't and the like withinthe chase. Theinterseting' 'bars areslidably m'ou'nte'd and gii'ided -in a 'member there being four' siich"member'a Each ot the bars is provided witha toothed i a'ck -and each ofthe member's rotatably ai ris a sfepai ate 'rack meshing pinion hr "eachbar g'uidedtherein. Each pinion h as tool engagingiportions by which itmay be rritated to adj-ustf-its r eSpectii' -e ba'r In-order' to lockea'eh -bar imam-fished position-"and while under tension, each of thepinions is' 'pi ovided with a frictional lock or clutch whi'ch uponoperation iprevents' Irotation' fof th'e' 'p'iniom In one form, thepinion' has a splii; hiibwhich is ex panded by movable cone t'o' engagethe heating for the :pinion and 'fri'ctionall'y resis't rotationthereof. "The cone fits within tlie intetior ofthe hubandwhenmovedialong the axis of thepinion will expand the hub. TheaXialm'bvement of the 'cone is controlled by the rotationeta-threa edoperator The 1ock: operatcr:i-scmaxiany Fi 4 is an rilar'ged f a'gmefita ry *secttenm mew-mmnon the line i -=4- of Fig." 1'; V W r i'S"an enlarged r gme tafy' Stibfiail View takenonthelinei f1; H 1

Fig. 6 is aieqtt'em plan'v of the pimdn sho'wn in Fig.1 Wit h tfiecbliearidiifiifafifiif emoved;

Fig. '7 is ayi'ew ineide -eIeVatiOn-pf the pinion 'shown in FigffifanclI p v Fig. 8 is a View in side elevation ofthe "tool" by which the"pinioh and fridti'ohail 106k are '61:!-

ffi e 4 N v Referring to the drawings Joy "reference "nu- "ni'e'r'als"the lock up device isfshoyvnfin position Within thecustomary printefschase I0. The lockiip aevice consists of longitudinal bars 12intersecting withtrahsver'se bar's-l 4-. "Atea'chinte eectionthe're isan I "-'shab'ed*me1nber l filfor slid-ably guiding the "intersectingears. "While only one of each b'ar'aifd onemfember' is shown, inthecomplete device-there-are *tw'o longitudinal bafrsehd two transversebars and-foiiijguiding member's. Each guiding "inmb'ei' is of identicalconstruction. Each' longitudinal bar is of identical construction. Eachtran'svefse bar is of identical construction. The description willtherefore'be limited-to one ofie'ach of the'se elemerits. When 47116compi'te "aev-i'ce i S 118 661, "811 opposite end of each bar I2 and anopposite end of each bar I4 is provided with an adjusting screw andlocking nut l8, which bear against the inner sides of the chase ill andpermit the inner frame to be properly aligned within the chase.

The bar l2 has an upper part 20 and a lower part 22 joined by spacerblocks 2|, so that the bar l4 may slide therebetween. The upper part 20has toothed rack 24 extending the length thereof. On its lower side ithas a longitudinal groove 26 slideably accommodating a pin 28 mounted inmember I6 to prevent the rack 24 from being thrust away from the pinion38. The bar H! has a toothed rack 32 extending longitudinally along itstop edge. It also has a longitudinally extending groove 34 slideablyaccommodating a pin 35 mounted in the member E6 to prevent the rack 32being thrust away from the pinion 38.

The guide member is preferably formed from a solid block of metal andhas two ways 40 and 42 positioned at right angles to each other. The way40, which guides the longitudinal bar 52, is formed by two grooves, onecut in the upper surface and one cut in the lower surface of the memberIS. The way 12, which guides the transverse bar 55, is cut through themember l6. With this construction, the guide member E6 holds each of theintersecting bars at substantially right angles to each other andpermits each bar to be adjusted longitudinally with respect to themember I6.

The member l6, adjacent each of the Ways 4!] and 42, has an apertureforming a bearing for the adjusting pinions. The pinion 3D is rotatablycarried in aperture 4 3 and intermeshes with the toothed rack 26.carried in aperture 46 and intermeshes with the toothed rack 32. Each ofthe apertures i l and 46 are provided with counter bores at each endwhich provide sufficient clearance for the toothed part of the pinionand for a retaining ring 43 mounted on the hub 5c of each pinion. Thepinions are rotatably guided in their respective apertures by thecombined engagement between teeth of the pinion and the wall of thecounterbore and the outer wall of the hub and the wall of each aperture.The pinions 3i? and 38 are substantially the same in construction withthe exception that the teeth of pinion 30 are formed at the top end ofthe hub while the teeth of pinion 38 are spaced from ends of the hub topermit them to mesh with the rack 32 which slides between the top andbottom of the member 5. Each of the pinions has a pair of recesses 52,which receive prongs if! on a tool 66 whereby the pinions may beseparately rotated about their axis to individually adjust each bar.

To look each bar in a desired adjusted position, each pinion is providedwith a frictional lock or clutch which operates to prevent rotation ofthe pinion. This is accomplished by spaced slots 54 in the hub 5%! ofeach pinion, which permit the hub to expand. In the case of pinion 38,the slots 54 also extend in between the teeth of the pinion in order toprovide for sufiicient expansion of the hub.

The hub 5% of each pinion is provided internally with a sloping surfacewhich flatly engages with the surface of an upright cone 56. As the cone5B is forced axially upwardly within the hub, the portions of the hubbetween the slots 54 are forced outwardly and frictionally engage thewall .of the respective aperture to prevent the pinion from rotating inthe member The pinion 3B is rotatably I6. Axial movement of the cone 56is controlled by a revolvable clutch operating member. In theexemplification shown, this member consists of a differentially threadedscrew 58. The lower threads 60 are right hand and pitched approximately20 threads per inch. The upper threads 62 are also right hand andpitched approximately 28 threads per inch. The lower threads 60 engagewith a threaded bore in the cone 56, while the upper threads 62threadably engage with the top of the pinion. Upon clockwise rotation ofscrew 53, it moves downwardly with respect to the pinion, but because ofthe differential in the pitch of the threaded portions, the cone will atthe same time move upwardly with respect to the pinion and at a greaterrate. Thus the cone is positively and with mechanicaI advantage movedupwardly to expand the hub of the pinion and also positively moveddownwardly to free the cone and permit the hub to retract. The

come 56 may have a pin 65 which rides in one of the slots 54 to keep thecone from rotating as it is moved axially. While this is a preferredform of the clutch operating member, it is not necessary to have adifferentially threaded screw. Any screw which threadedly engages thecone and is rotatably mounted in the pinion and held there against axialdisplacement, or which is fixed to the cone and threaded in the pinion,will function in substantially the same way. The essentialcharacteristic is to have the clutch operating member control the clutchmovement by its rotation with respect to the pinion, thus permitting thepinion to be held by one portion of a tool while another portion of thesame tool can simultaneously control the clutch operating member. Thescrew 58 is provided with a hexagonal recess 64 to receive the tool forrotating the screw.

The tool 66 for operating the pinion and the friction clutch operatingmember consists of an outer member 68, which has a pair of dependingprongs 1E3, engageable in the recesses 52 of the pinion, and an innermember 12 co-axially rotatably mounted in the outer member 68 which hasa hexagonal stub 74 at its lower end fittable in the recess 64. A largedisc 76 is attached to the upper end of the outer member 68, and asmaller disc 18, superimposed on the large disc 76, is attached to theinner member '12. The tool, when positioned on a selected pinion,simultaneously engages with the pinion and with the clutch operatingmember. The pinion is rotated through force applied to the large disc 16until a respective bar is adjusted to the desired position. With thelarge disc held under tension in the adjusted position, the smaller disc18 may be rotated by force to turn the friction clutch operating memberand lock the pinion in the adjusted position.

Although onl one embodiment of the invention is shown and describedherein, it will be understood that this application is intended to coversuch changes or modifications as come within the spirit of the inventionor scope of the following claim.

We claim:

In a lock up device for a printers chase having a bar adjustable withinthe chase to engage a form or the like, a rack and pinion operable toadjust said bar to selected position within said chase, said pinionhaving a split hub, a cone axially movable in said hub to expand saidhub and prevent said pinion from rotating, a threaded member carried bysaid pinion and engageable with said cone to cause axial movementthereof 5 upon rotation of said member, and means acting between saidcone and said hub to prevent said cone from rotating with respect tosaid hub.

GEORGE F. MORRISON. HERMAN C. FRENTZEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Number 6 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Andrews July 18, 1916 Kyle Jan.5, 1926 Varcoe et a1 Oct. 17, 1933 Matthies June 11, 1940 Parkhill Jan.20, 1948 Hilland Sept. 14, 1948

